可拉之亂
1可拉是利未的曾孫、哥轄的孫子、以斯哈的兒子。他跟呂便支派以利押的兩個兒子大坍和亞比蘭以及比勒的兒子安心中狂妄， 2聯合二百五十名在以色列會眾中有聲望的首領反叛摩西， 3一起攻擊摩西和亞倫，說：「你們太過分了！全體會眾都是聖潔的，有耶和華住在他們當中，你們憑什麼將自己置於耶和華的會眾之上？」 4摩西聽了這話，就俯伏在地， 5對可拉一夥人說：「到了明天早上，耶和華必顯明誰是屬於祂的，誰是聖潔的。祂必讓祂所揀選的人到祂面前。 6可拉啊，你們要這樣做，你和你的同夥明天帶香爐來， 7在耶和華面前點火添香。耶和華揀選誰，誰就是聖潔的。你們利未人太過分了！」 8摩西又對可拉說：「利未人啊，你們聽我說！ 9以色列的上帝把你們從以色列會眾中分別出來，使你們可以到祂面前，在祂的聖幕裡司職，替會眾辦事，你們還不滿足嗎？ 10可拉啊，耶和華使你和其他利未人事奉祂，你們還不滿足，還要貪求祭司的職分嗎？ 11其實你和你的同夥合謀反叛的是耶和華，而不是亞倫。」 12摩西派人去召以利押的兒子大坍和亞比蘭，他們卻說：「我們不去！ 13你帶我們離開奶蜜之鄉，要讓我們死在曠野，這還不夠嗎？你還想自立為王管轄我們嗎？ 14你並沒有領我們到奶蜜之鄉，也沒有給我們田地和葡萄園作產業，你還想繼續矇騙我們嗎？我們不去！」
15摩西非常憤怒，就對耶和華說：「求你不要接納他們的祭物。我沒有取過他們一頭驢，也沒有害過他們任何人。」 16摩西對可拉說：「明天你和你的同夥要跟亞倫一起站在耶和華面前。 17每人要拿一個香爐，放上香，帶到耶和華面前，共二百五十個。你和亞倫也要各拿一個香爐。」 18於是，他們都拿著香爐，盛著火和香，跟摩西和亞倫一起站在會幕門口。 19可拉把全體會眾招聚到會幕門口，要對付摩西和亞倫。這時，耶和華的榮光向會眾顯現。
20耶和華對摩西和亞倫說： 21「你們離開這些會眾，我好在頃刻之間消滅他們。」 22摩西和亞倫就伏在地上說：「上帝啊，賜人生命的上帝啊！一人犯罪，你就要向全體會眾發怒嗎？」 23耶和華對摩西說： 24「你叫會眾離可拉、大坍和亞比蘭的帳篷遠一點。」
25於是，摩西起來去大坍和亞比蘭那裡，以色列的長老也跟著他。 26他對會眾說：「你們離這些惡人的帳篷遠一點，不要碰他們的任何東西，免得你們因他們的罪而受牽連，同遭毀滅。」 27會眾便離開可拉、大坍和亞比蘭的帳篷。大坍和亞比蘭帶著妻小出來，站在自己的帳篷門口。 28摩西對會眾說：「你們很快就知道，我所做的事都是奉耶和華之命而行，並非出於私意。 29如果這些人像常人一樣死去，遭遇跟世人無異，我就不是耶和華派來的。 30但如果耶和華做一件前所未有的事，使地裂開，吞下他們和屬於他們的一切，使他們活生生地墜入陰間，你們就知道這些人藐視耶和華了。」
31摩西的話剛說完，這些人腳下的地就裂開， 32吞下了他們和他們的家眷及所有可拉一夥的人和財物。 33他們和屬於他們的一切就這樣活活地墜入陰間，地在他們上面合攏起來，他們就從會眾中滅亡了。 34他們四圍的以色列人聽到他們的喊叫聲，紛紛逃跑，生怕自己也被吞下去。 35耶和華又降下烈火，燒死了那二百五十個獻香的人。
36耶和華對摩西說： 37「你叫亞倫祭司的兒子以利亞撒去從火中把香爐撿起來，把炭火撒在遠處，因為那些香爐是聖潔的。 38要把那些因犯罪而喪命之人的香爐打成薄片，用來包祭壇，因為那些香爐曾被獻在耶和華面前，是聖潔的，並且可讓以色列人引以為戒。」 39於是，以利亞撒祭司取來被燒死之人所獻的銅香爐，叫人打成薄片用來包祭壇， 40讓以色列人引以為戒，使亞倫子孫以外的人不致到耶和華面前燒香，以免像可拉及其同夥一樣滅亡。這是按照耶和華藉摩西的吩咐做的。
41第二天，以色列全體會眾都埋怨摩西和亞倫說：「你們害死了耶和華的子民。」 42會眾聚集起來反對摩西和亞倫，他們向會幕觀看，忽然有雲彩遮蓋了會幕，耶和華的榮光顯現了。 43摩西和亞倫來到會幕前， 44耶和華對摩西說： 45「你們離開這些會眾，我好在頃刻之間消滅他們。」他們二人就俯伏在地。 46摩西對亞倫說：「取香爐來，裡面放些壇上的火，添上香，趕快帶到會眾那裡為他們贖罪，因為耶和華發怒了，瘟疫已經開始。」 47亞倫就照著摩西的吩咐取來香爐，跑到會眾當中。那時瘟疫已經在人群中蔓延起來。他就在爐中放上香為民眾贖罪。 48他站在活人和死人中間，瘟疫就止住了。 49除了在可拉事件中死亡的人以外，當天有一萬四千七百人死於瘟疫。 50瘟疫止住後，亞倫便回到在會幕門口的摩西那裡。
Korah, Dathan and Abiram
1Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth. 2All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body. 3They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’s people?”
4When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground. 5Then he spoke to Korah and all his followers. He said, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him. 6Korah, here’s what you and all your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense. 7Tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
8Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites! 9The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all that enough for you? 10He has already brought you and all the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too. 11You and all your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”
12Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We won’t come! 13You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us? 14Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No! We won’t come!”
15Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”
16Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron. 17Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.” 18So each of them got his cup. He put burning coals and incense in it. All the men came with Moses and Aaron. They stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19Korah gathered all his followers together at the entrance to the tent. They opposed Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. 20The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21“Separate yourselves from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.”
22But Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They cried out, “God, you are the God who gives life and breath to all living things. Will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”
23Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 24“Tell the community, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”
25Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him. 26Moses warned the community. He said, “Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all their sins.” 27So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives, children and little ones were standing there with them.
28Then Moses said, “What is about to happen wasn’t my idea. The Lord has sent me to do everything I’m doing. Here is how you will know I’m telling you the truth. 29These men won’t die a natural death. Something will happen to them that doesn’t usually happen to people. If what I’m telling you doesn’t happen, then you will know that the Lord hasn’t sent me. 30But the Lord will make something totally new happen. The ground will open its mouth and swallow them up. It will swallow up everything that belongs to them. They will be buried alive. When that happens, you will know that these men have disrespected the Lord.”
31As soon as Moses finished saying all these words, what he had said came true. The ground under them broke open. 32It opened its mouth. It swallowed up those men. In fact, it swallowed up everyone who lived in their houses. It swallowed all Korah’s men. And it swallowed up everything they owned. 33They went down into the grave alive. Everything they owned went down with them. The ground closed over them and they died. And so they disappeared from the community. 34All the Israelites around them heard their cries. They ran away from them. They shouted, “The ground is going to swallow us up too!”
35Then the Lord sent down fire. It burned up the 250 men offering the incense.
36The Lord said to Moses, 37“Speak to Eleazar the priest. He is the son of Aaron. Remind him that the shallow cups are holy. He must take them out of the ashes. He must scatter the burning coals away from there. 38The men who sinned used those cups. And it cost them their lives. Hammer the cups into bronze sheets that will cover the altar. The cups were offered to the Lord. They have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the Israelites.”
39So the priest Eleazar collected the bronze incense cups. They had been brought by the men who had been burned to death. He had them hammered out to cover the altar. 40He did just as the Lord had directed Moses to tell him to do. The covering would be a reminder to the Israelites. It would remind them that no one except a son of Aaron should come and burn incense to the Lord. If people other than priests did that, they would become like Korah and his followers.
41The next day the whole community of Israel told Moses and Aaron they weren’t happy with them. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
42The community gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. The people walked toward the tent of meeting. Suddenly the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared. 43Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting. 44The Lord said to Moses, 45“Get away from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.” And Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground.
46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your incense cup. Put incense in it. And put burning coals from the altar in it. Then hurry to the people and pay for their sin. The Lord has begun to show his anger. The plague has started.” 47So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran in among the people. The plague had already started among them. But Aaron offered the incense and paid for their sin. 48He stood between those alive and those dead. And the plague stopped. 49But 14,700 people died from the plague. That doesn’t include those who had died because of what Korah did. 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The plague had stopped.
